1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device link profile creation method, a computer-readable medium storing a program, and a device link profile creation apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Examples of a device which handles image data include a digital camera, a scanner, a monitor (a display device of a computer), and a multi-functional peripheral (MFP). Since each of these devices has its unique color space, the color space of image data needs to be converted when the image data is exchanged among these devices. As a unified system for managing such conversion of the color space, there is a color management system (hereinafter referred to as CMS) described in Japanese Patent Application No. H11-9872, for example.
In general, a CMS means a system for managing color conversion by using a profile in conformity with a rule of International Color Consortium (ICC).
Hereinafter, a CMS which uses a device link profile (hereinafter referred to as a DLP) and a device profile (hereinafter referred to as a DP) is described, in particular, among the profiles in conformity with the rule of the ICC.
When performing color conversion from the color space of inputted data into the color space of outputted data, the CMS which uses a DLP is capable of performing direct color conversion without going through color conversion into profile connection space (PCS). The CMS which uses a DLP is superior to other CMS which does not use a DLP in color retention, and enables high-speed color conversion.
The DLP is created by using a source profile and a destination profile.
The source profile is a profile for performing color conversion from the color space of inputted data into the color space of the PCS. The source profile can be created based on printed material, for example. Some source profiles are offered by ink manufacturers or the like. The destination profile is a profile for performing color conversion from the color space of the PCS into the color space of outputted data. The destination profile is provided individually for an image forming apparatus such as an MFP.
The DP means data including information about a color characteristic of each device including various types of input devices and output devices. As the data included in the DP, there is a source profile and a destination profile. Hereinafter, the term “DP” is used as a general term for the source profile and the destination profile.
In the CMS which uses a DLP, when a DP is updated, the DLP which is created by using the updated DP needs to be updated. Examples of means for helping such a DLP update include a system for notifying a user that a DLP update is necessary when the DLP update is necessary, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-357932.
A DLP update accompanying a DP update has conventionally been performed in such a way that a user manually specifies a DLP which uses an updated DP. For this reason, a user needs to confirm manually the contents of all the DLPs which are registered in the controller of the CMS, and needs to check whether or not the updated DP is used for each DLP.
In addition, after specifying the DLP which uses the updated DP, a user needs to create a DLP manually for updating the specified DLP by using the updated DP. Still further, a user needs to replace the DLP before the update with the created DLP for updating manually.
These various works required for the DLP update are very troublesome and impose a great burden on a user.
Moreover, the workload required for the DLP update increases as the number of DLPs registered in the controller increases. For this reason, the DLP update in the CMS where a number of DLPs are registered is extremely troublesome, and imposes an enormous burden on a user.